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Proceedings of EnCon2010

3rd Engineering Conference on Advancement in Mechanical


and Manufacturing for Sustainable Environment
April 14-16, 2010, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

A Study of Induction Motor Starting Methods In


Terms of Power Quality
Hui Hwang, Goh, Boon Ching, Kok and Ming Sum, Looi

problems. As a result, a study of the motor starting needs to


Abstract This paper presents a comparison between the be conducted to prove the power quality events. Therefore,
Direct-On-Line, Star-Delta, and Auto-transformer induction the types of power quality events also need to be identified
motor starting method in terms of power quality. The purpose
in accordance to the percentage of voltage variations. From
of this research is to identify the most reliable and practical
starting method with fewer power quality problems. These this parameter, it can be concluded whether the types of
three basic starting methods which differ in their respective power quality events may disrupt the motor or affect the
wiring connections are the most applicable and widely-used power system.
starting methods in the industrial area for its economic
reasons. This research was produced by analyzing the existing
power quality events during motor starting by using the Fluke
Power Quality Analyzer to capture the waveforms of the
events. Hence, the most suitable and applicable starting II. RESEARCH BACKGROUND
method which causes the least severe power quality event can
be identified.
Power quality is an issue about the compatibility of supply
Keywords: Autotransformer, Direct-On-Line, Harmonics, systems and loads. The most frequent power quality events
Power quality, Star-Delta that occur are voltage sags and voltage transients as well as
harmonics. Generally, voltage sags occur due to short-
I. INTRODUCTION circuit faults, however, motor starting is also the main
cause of voltage sags. The starting of industrial-range
R APID technological progression today, of both electric
utilities and end users of electric power are becoming
motors draws a larger current than normal, typically ten
times higher than usual remained until the motor reaches
increasingly concerned about the quality of electric power. nominal speed, which takes several seconds to minutes [2].
The increasing emphasis on overall power system efficiency Evaluating these concerns requires equipment that can
has resulted in multi application of devices such as high- capture the voltage sags waveforms over the full duration.
efficiency, adjustable-speed motor drives and shunt The power quality analyzer and other tools such as software
capacitors for power factor correction to reduce losses. This implementation are needed to monitor the significant
causes increases in harmonic levels of power systems and events even in just a few milliseconds, because the voltage
has many people concerned about the future impact on sags enough to trip a fuse, blinking the lighting systems or
system capabilities [1]. The main reason the public are even disrupt sensitive equipment. A thorough and detailed
interested in power quality is economic value. Poor power study as well as the simulation of the motor starting should
quality may cause electrical appliances to malfunction or be conducted to identify and verify the power quality events
fuse to trip. Most cases occur when the motor starts and and their characteristics respectively.
during the process, the major problem is the disconnection
of the motor itself due to the presence of the power quality
III. POWER QUALITY EVENTS IN INDUCTION MOTOR
STARTING
This work was supported by Research And Innovation Centre, UTHM
under short grant No.0571 .
H.H.Goh is with Department of Electrical Power Engineering, Faculty of Power quality events such as voltage sags and harmonics
Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia,
Parit Raja, Batu Pahat,86400 Johor. (phone: 607-4537544; fax: 607- may occur in starting motors due to the inrush current. This
4536060; e-mail: hhgoh@uthm.edu.my ). inrush current occurs because the motor draws six to ten
B.C.Kok is with Department of Electrical Power Engineering, Faculty of
Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia,
times of current than usual to produce a starting torque.
Parit Raja, Batu Pahat,86400 Johor. (phone: 607-4537548; fax: 607- Voltage sags due to the starting of large motors can again
4536060; e-mail: bckok@uthm.edu.my ). be theoretically calculated similar to that caused by system
M.S. Looi is with the Department of Engineering, Panasonic , Malaysia
(email: looimingsum@yahoo.com ) faults [3].

1
2 R r'
q1V shTH
1 sh
Teh = (3)
wsh R'
( R sTH + r ) 2 + (hw1 ) 2 ( L s1TH + L'rl ) 2
sh
Similarly, the fundamental (h=1) torque is
2 R r'
Fig. 1. Equivalent circuit for induction motor starting. q1V shTH
1 sh
Te1 =
ws1 R r' 2
The voltage at the point of common coupling (PCC) is ( R sTH + ) + ( w1 ) 2 ( L s1TH + L'rl ) 2
given by the equation: sh
ZM If the harmonics order varies from 3, 5, 7 and others and
V sag = E (1) is represented by h=3, 5 or 7, the torque of the induction
ZS + ZM
machine will vary and this will cause the unbalanced torque
where Z M is the impedance of the motor under study and
when the rotor is spinning during the starting period.
Z S is the source impedance. These calculations provide
approximations and an accurate result of voltage sag
phenomena so a power system analysis package was used
[3]. Motor starting causes high inrush currents. In IV. PREVIOUS RESEARCH
understanding of high inrush current due to the motor
starting is necessary required because the power quality
Previous researches in motor starting circuits in terms of
events may spoil the motor or affect the sensitive load at its
power quality are done. Bong-Seok Kang, Jae-Chul Kim,
surrounding [4].
Jong-Fil Moon, Sang-Yun Yun identified the various
For harmonics analysis, the equivalent circuit of the characteristics of voltage sags and temporary interruptions
three-phase induction motor with accurate frequency-based which can affect the functions of three-phase induction
linear model is shown in Fig. 2. The subscript 1 denotes the motors that are mostly used in the power distribution
fundamental frequency (h=1); 1 and s1 are the systems [6]. These assorted characteristics include the
fundamental angular frequency (or velocity) and the motor speed losses, voltage recovery, motor reacceleration,
fundamental slip of the rotor, respectively. Rfe is the core- and transient characteristics. They implemented an
loss resistance, Lm is the linear magnetizing inductance, experimental study on the induction motor behaviors to
Rs,Rr,Lsl,and Lrl are the stator and rotor (reflected to the confirm these impacts. In addition, sequential voltage sags
stator) resistances and leakage inductances, respectively. with short durations were considered and investigated. The
The value of Rfe is usually very large and can be neglected. results show that the occurrence of the second voltage sag
The simplified sinusoidal equivalent circuit of an induction after the first one may affects the induction motor
motor is shown below [5]; adversely. Andrea Leira [7] used the EMTP to investigate
the dynamic response of induction motors to voltage dips.
The machine response is related to the voltage dip
magnitude and duration. Dips represented include single
and multi phase dips as well as sequential dips due to re-
closing operations. The survivability of the motor operation
is assessed against typical induction machine protection
settings. It demonstrated that protection settings can be
adjusted to improve the motor operation survivability of
voltage dips without endangering the safety of the motor.

Fig. 2. Thevenin adjusted Equivalent Circuit of Three-Phase Induction Motor

The Thevenin-adjusted circuit is illustrated in Fig 2, the


current of the hth harmonic is
V shTH
I shTH = '
(2)
Rr '
( R sTH + ) + jhw1 ( L s1TH + Lrl )
sh

2
V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DATA ANALYSIS voltage recovers, the flux in the air gap builds up again
causing the large inrush current and slowing the voltage
recovery. The motor will re-accelerate until it reaches its
pre-event speed. During re-acceleration the motor again
takes a larger current with a smaller power factor causing
the post-fault voltage sag sometimes last for several seconds
[8,9].
The consequences of the high inrush current in the motor
starting, the voltage sag occurs as depicted in Fig. 5. These
events can be explained by applying Ohm's and Kirchoff's
Laws in equation (5).

Fig. 3. Laboratory Workbench for the Motor Starting Experiment.

Figure 3 shows the setting up of the motor starting


experiment. The experimental results of the three types of
motor starting methods were carried out using the
laboratory workbench. The wiring connection of the motor
starting was set up and monitored by the Fluke Power
Quality Analyzer. The three-phase voltage and current
waveforms were analyzed respective to its motor starting
method.
A. Direct-On-Line Starting
Fig. 5. Voltage Sag in DOL Starting.

By applying Ohm's Law,


V = IZ (5)
where V is the Voltage, I is the Current, and Z is the
Impedance. The Kirchoff's Voltage Law states that the sum
of voltages around a closed loop must equal zero. The
motor starting system has 1 source impedance and a
26.98A starting current on a 415V system, the inrush
current can result in a drop of 26.98 V. Therefore, voltage
at the load would sag to 388.02V, down from the nominal
415V level. This sag occurs because the impedance of the
motor initially (when the rotor is stationary) acts as a short
circuit.
B. Star-Delta Starting
In the star-delta starting method, the motor is started as
Fig. 4. Inrush Current in Direct-On-Line Starting.
the star connection and when the motor starts running the
connection is changed to delta. The motor takes 3 times less
Fig. 4 shows the inrush current to occur in induction voltage with star connection. However, as the torque is
motor starting. The inrush current causes the voltage at the proportional to the square of the voltage, the starting torque
motor terminals to drop in magnitude. In this condition, the also reduces. During the transition from star to delta
magnetic flux in the air gap is no longer in balance with the connection, the power quality events will occur. These will
stator voltage. The flux decays with a time constant of up to be discussed further [4].
several cycles, apparently with the voltage at the motor
terminals. The decay in voltage causes the drop in electrical
torque which causes the motor to slow down. As the motor
slows, it draws larger current with a smaller power factor.
This will reduce the voltage further. The voltage will slowly
recover and an opposite phenomena occur. When the

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by the third harmonic resonance in the wiring circuit. After
the initial transient, the voltage again swells to nearly
150% for many cycles until the losses and load damp out
the oscillations.

Fig. 6. Voltage Sag in Star-Delta Starting

Fig. 6 shows the voltage sag in the Star-Delta starting.


Fig. 8. Harmonics in Autotransformer Starting
This event occurs during the transition from the Star (wye)
connection to the Delta connection. During the transition
moment, the contactor switches and causes the voltage to The histogram illustrated in Fig. 8. presents harmonics
breakdown for approximately 0.25 seconds and is enough to in autotransformer starting. In this harmonic analysis, the
cause the voltage sag to occur in the motor starting. Once triplen harmonics are the 3rd, 9th, 15th and others are
the connection to delta is established, the motor will emphasized because the system response is often
accelerate until its nominal speed so that the voltage and considerably different for triplens than for the rest of the
current waveforms are in stable manner [6]. harmonics. This is because the motor is star connected
C. Autotransformer Starting where this triplen harmonics will flow to the neutral [1].
The autotransformer winding connections in this project are
star (wye) connected and have a significant impact on the
flow of the triplen harmonics current. These triplen
harmonics current in phase entered the wye side adding up
the neutral current. The delta winding in the motor
terminal provides the ampere-turn balance so that they can
flow, but remain trapped in the delta and do not show up in
the line currents on the delta side. However, when the
currents are balanced, the triplen harmonic currents behave
as zero-sequence currents. The triplen harmonic currents
shown above are the current at the moment before the
transformer tapping takes place. The triplen harmonic
currents as such high which freely circulate in the wye side,
causes the Total Harmonics Distortion as much as 18.9%.
After the transformer tapping takes place, the triplen
harmonic currents will reduce to the lowest level, when the
Fig. 7. Transients in Autotransformer Starting currents are in a balanced condition [6].

VI. SIMULATION RESULTS AND DISCUSSION


Fig. 7 shows the occurrence of the transients during the
autotransformer switching. This is caused by the These simulated circuits by using Power Systems
transformer energizing before it reaches the 50% tapping, Computer Aided Design/Electromagnetic Transients
the time before the tap contactors open to disconnect the including DC (PSCAD/EMTDC) software yields almost the
motor from the transformer, and another contactor closes same results as being measured by the Fluke Power Quality
connecting the motor to the supplies. This can be explained Analyzer.
with the transformer energizing to produce inrush currents A. Simulation of Direct-On-Line Starting
that are rich in harmonic components for a certain period. Fig. 9 shows the Direct-On-Line circuit simulation by
Hence, an overvoltage waveform appears which is caused using the Power Systems Computer Aided Design (PSCAD)

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software. This starting method is almost similar with the the real star-delta starting except for the contactor and
real starting circuit, where the breaker in this circuit will thermal overload relay. The former are used as the
act as the switch to turn ON and OFF the starting controlling circuit of the switching process in real
operation. application while in terms of software simulation, the
switching process is fully controlled by the control panel.
The simulation circuit also yields the same results in the
real starting process.

Fig. 10. The Inrush Current exists during the Direct-On-Line starting

Fig. 10 shows the high inrush current during direct-on-


line starting. This waveform is the same as the real starting
waveform measured previously. This shows that the direct- Fig. 13. Two times of Inrush Current during the Star-Delta Starting method
on-line not only yields a high inrush current, but also yields
a high starting torque because the starting torque needs a
high starting current to produce the moment of inertia
applied to the rotor of the motor. Fig. 13 shows the inrush current during the star-delta
starting method. The first inrush current occurs during the
starting of the induction motor. During the start-up, the
rotor is in static condition as it draws more current to move
the rotor and a severe inrush current can be observed. This
is followed by the transition from the star to delta
connection where the switching process causes the voltage
breakdown even through a very fast period switching. The
voltage breakdown also causes the inrush current.

Fig. 11. Unbalanced Voltage in Direct-On-Line Starting

Fig. 11 shows the unbalanced voltage occurs during the


starting of the induction motor by using the direct-on-line
starting method. Obviously, the unbalanced voltage
waveform occurs in the line voltage at terminal A of the
induction motor. This phenomenon occurs because the
dramatic high inrush current rises during the motor starting
with a corresponding drop in the line voltage [5]. Fig. 14. Voltage Sag in the Induction Motors Terminal A
B. Simulation of Star-Delta Starting

Fig. 14 shows the voltage sag occurring at the terminal of


the induction motor. The voltage sag exhibits the same
characteristics as the real measured results conducted
previously. This phenomenon occurs during the transition
of the star connection to delta connection where the supply
of 240V switches to 415V causing the voltage sag.
Eventually, the current in the induction motor terminal will
Fig. 12. Direct-On-Line Circuit Implementation by using PSCAD software
increase, causing a significant voltage drop in the motors
terminal.
C. Simulation of Autotransformer Starting
Fig. 12 shows the star-delta starting circuit
implementation using Power Systems Computer Aided
Design (PSCAD) software. The circuit operation of Power
Systems Computer Aided Design (PSCAD) is the same as

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rating motors, this comparison may not be suitable. The
proposed method has been implemented for analysis and
categorization of power quality data collected. Results
illustrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed
method in power quality. More work is currently in
progress to validate the proposed tool, which will be
reported in the near future.

Fig. 15. Star-Delta Starting Circuit Implementation in PSCAD


ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Fig. 15 shows the model of the autotransformer in the
The authors gratefully acknowledged staff in the
Power Systems Computer Aided Design/Electromagnetic
Laboratory of Electric Machines and Drives as well as the
Transients including DC (PSCAD/EMTDC) simulation.
Laboratory of Electric Power, UTHM for their valuable
contribution towards the success of this work. The authors
would like to thank the Research and Innovation Centre,
UTHM for financially supporting this research under the
short grant No.0571.

REFERENCES
[1] Dugan R.C., Mc Granaghan, Santoso S.,Beaty H.W., Electrical Power
System Quality, 2nd ed.,New York: Mc Graw-Hill, 2002, pp. 1-185.
[2] J.Arrillaga, N.R. Watson. S.Chen, Power System Quality Assessment,
England: Wiley, 2000, pp. 1-62.
[3] Horvath, W.J. , Concepts, Configurations, & Benefits of Motor Starting
Fig. 16. Inrush Current in Autotransformer Starting and Operation with MV AC Adjustable Speed Drives, Cement Industry
Technical Conference Record, 2008, pp. 258-274.
[4] Bollen M. H. J., Understanding Power Quality Problems, IEEE
The inrush current as seen in Fig. 16 is caused by the Press,Inc. New York, 2000, pp. 139-248.
[5] Ewald F. Fuchs and Mohammad A.S. Masoum, Power Quality in
voltage drop during the transition from 240V to 415V. The Power Systems and Electrical Machines, California: Elsevier
significant drop in the voltage corresponds to the high Academic Press, 2008, pp. 109-153.
[6] Bong-Seok Kang, Jae-Chul Kim, Jong-Fil Moon, etc.al, A Study of the
inrush current. Impact of Voltage Sags and Temporary Interruptions on 3-Phase
Induction Motors, Soongsil University, Korea.
[7] Andreia Leiria, Pedro Nunes, Atef Morched, etc.al, Induction Motor
Response to Voltage Dips,IPST,2003, pp.1-4.
[8] M.S. Looi, H.H. Goh, and B.C. Kok, Comparison between Direct-On-
Line, Star-Delta and Autotransformer Induction Motor Starting Method
in terms of Power Quality, in IMECS, 2009, paper ICEE_56, p.1558.
[9] Chapman S.J., Electric Machinery Fundamentals, 4th ed., Australia:
Mc Graw-Hill, 2005, pp. 380-472.

Fig. 17. Voltage Sags in Autotransformer

Fig. 17 shows the voltage sags in the autotransformer


method. It can be seen that the severe drop at the starting
in the Vrms during 415V.

VII. CONCLUSIONS
This paper presented practical and efficient methods for
power quality data analysis as well as some initial findings
of the most reliable method which yields the least power
quality issues on motor starting circuits. The Star-Delta
starting method yields the least power quality problem
compared with Direct-On-Line and Autotransformer
starting motors. This comparison is valid for the low power
rated motor which is less than 3hp or 2.2kW of the motor
output power rating. However, in the higher output power

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